West Point’s week three game vs Columbus cancelled

August 24, 2010

West Point High School’s football game at Columbus high, scheduled for Sept. 3, has been canceled according to Steve Montgomery, Superintendent of West Point schools.
The cancellation stems from an issue with the MHSAA and the addition of a game against Mainland Fla., which takes place this Friday. In April, West Point officials applied for permission to add Mainland to the scheduled, giving West Point 12 regular season games, which is one over the allowed number of 11.
On Thursday, MHSAA Director Ennis Proctor informer West Point head coach Chris Chambless that his team would have to cancel a regular season non-division game in order to adhere to the 11-game limit. According to Proctor, the MHSAA did not realize granting permission for the Mainland trip would give West Point 12 regular season games.
Faced with having to cut a game this late in the process, Chambless and Montgomery began to see which game would be canceled. That led to discussions with Columbus, including Columbus Superintendent Dale Phillips and Lowndes County Superintendent Michael Halford, which ultimately led to the game being dropped.
“I called them and told them our situation, and honestly, the Columbus people really helped us out,” Montgomery said. “They began looking around to see what they could do for us, and they will now play New Hope. They really went above and beyond to help us in this situation.”
Chambless agreed with that sentiment.
“The coaches at Columbus (Tony Sanford) and New Hope (Michael Bradley) were very helpful,” Chambless said. “They recognized that there was no wrong-doing on our part and in the end, it looks like it’s going to work out.”
Columbus and New Hope will now play on Sept. 3 and West Point will have the week off, giving the Wave a break after the trip to Daytona and before a pair of home games against Starkville and Noxubee County.